Section 5-1: Cultures of The Mountains and Seas
Bold:
Mycenaeans- People who settled in the Greek mainlan around 2000 B.C.
Trojan War- a war fought around 1200 B.C., in which an army led by Mycanaean Kings attacked the independent trading city of Troy in Antolia.
Dorians- a Greek-speaking people that, according to tradition, migrated into mainland Greece after the destruction of the Mycenaean civilization.
Homer- according to tradition, the greatest storyteller was a blind man named Homer.
epics- a long narrative poem celebrating the deeds of legendary or traditional heroes.
myths- a traditional story about gods, ancestors, or heroes, told to explain the natural world or the customs and beliefs of a society.

Key People:
Dorians
Mycenaeans
Heinrich Schliemann- the german man who found evidence suggesting the Trojan war was not just a story.
Homer
Zeus the ruler of the gods
Athena goddess of wisdom

Key Ideas/ Events:
The two Greek civilizations did not fight but they traded ideas.

Setting the Stage:
- Greece used to be desperate lands were people spoke Greek. There were Minoans who live on the island of Crete, the Minoans had power in the mediterranean, there were also people who live along the Black Sea and Anatolia who settle in the mainlands of Greece.

Geography shapes Greek Life:
- Greece is main a peninsula of mountains and it also includes about 2,000 islands and the geography shaped customs and traditions of the Greek people.

The Sea:
- the Greek people inhabiting islands became good sailers because they had to sail to trade good since tey lacked materials like timber, precious metals, and useable farmland. They also had sail to stay connected with other societies.

The Land:
- the mountains in Greece separated the regions so there many small regions and there also wasn't a single government but the independent communities had small governments.
- the terrain also made land transportation difficult hard making travel long and hard.
- most of the land is rock so it's hard to farm, but there are scattered valleys that were fertile . They were fertile due to small streams, not good for irrigation ditches, with not much fertile land Greece couldn't support a large population.

The Climate:
- the wether is never to cold and never to hot it ranges from about 48°F to 80°F the temperatures led to public events outdoors.

Mycenaean Civilization Developes:
- People Cameron Europe, India and Southeast Asia and settled in Greece.
- Mycenae was a city with thick walls ruled by a warrior-king this city could withstand almost any attack.

Contact With Minoans:
- the Mycenaeans made contact with the Minoans and noticed how good sea trade was is they picked it up and started to trade with Aegean islands, coastal towns in Antolia and ports in Syria, Egypt, Italy and Crete.
- each Greek civilization influenced the other in some way.
- the Mycenaeans picked up the Minoan writing system as decoration of vases
- the Minoan picked up the Mycenaeans religious practice, art, politics and literature.

The Trojan War:
- a ten year war was fought against the independent trading city located in Anatolia of Troy during the 1200s B.C. Legend had it the Greeks destroyed the city of Troy because a Trojan prince kidnapped a a wife of a Greek king. The woman's name was Helen.
- we thought the Trojan war was just a legendary story that was told but we have uncovered evidence that aurgests it's not and that the attack of Troy was that done by the Mycenaeans.

Greek Culture Declines Under the Dorians:
- the Mycenaean civilization fell and around 1200 B.C. Sea raiders attack ad destroyed their cities. A new group of people moved into the war-torn countryside. They were the Dorians.
- the Dorians weren't as advanced as the Mycenaeans so the economy collapsed and the trade came to a stand still and error seemed to fall so there aren't many records of the civilizations so for know much about this time period in Greek history.

Epics of Homer:
- since there was no writing system the history of the people was spoken through stories. Homer was the bet storyteller according to legend.
- the heroes on his story was Greek Achilles and Hector of Troy.
- Greeks could this ideal on the battle field or in athletic events.

Greeks Create Myths:
- the Greeks created myths to explain things they didn't know how to explain.
- the wife of Zeus was jelous because of his relationships with other women.